Prescriptions like Percocet can lead patients to addiction, and the president's opioid commission is trying to find ways to stop the country's epidemic

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Updated: 8:31 AM MDT Sep 16, 2017

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WEBVTT S MATT BARCARO JOINS USLIVE IN CUMBERLAND COUNTY.MATT: NALAXONE, THE OPIOIDOVERDOSE REVERSAL DRUG, IS NOWONE OF THE MOST COMMONLYADMINISTERED DRUGS BY PARAMEDICSAND EMT'S AT CUMBERLAND GOODWILLEMS, AND MORE DOSES ARE BEINGREQUIRED TO REVIVE PATIENTS, ANAVERAGE OF TWO DOSES LAST MONTH.ONE PATIENT REQUIRED FIVE DOSESTO START BREATHING AGAIN>> THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE WORSTTIME FOR THIS CRISIS TO BEHITTING THIS TYPE OF PEAK.MATT: EACH DOSE COSTS THECOMPANY $45, MONEY IT SAYSTHAT'S NOT FULLY REIMBURSEDTHROUGH MEDICAID.THAT'S LED TO DELAYINGTECHNOLOGY UPGRADES TO MAKE SUREIT HAS ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY THEAMOUNT OF NALAXONE NEEDED TOREVIVE PATIENTS THROUGH THEYEAR.>> IF THIS CONTINUES ON THISTRAJECTORY, WE'RE GOING TO MAKEEVEN MORE SACRIFICES, MORE CUTS,AND WE NEED LEGISLATIVE HELPHERERO THAT WAS MATT BARCAROREPORTING.ONE OF T FIXES HAS TO DO WITHCHANGING THE REIMBURSEMENT RATES

Stephen Smarrito remembers cutting trees for work when a branch the size of a telephone pole hit him in the head, causing him to bite his tongue and go into a seizure.

His head had a gash, and a doctor eventually prescribed him the painkiller Percocet. The New Jersey resident says he had taken the medication after a previous auto crash without problems, but this time he became addicted.

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Smarrito felt he had to have the drug, and he says he ended up buying drugs on the street and even getting caught by police for stealing metal outside a store. He ended up with two years' probation.

He mainly used heroin and eventually overdosed in a port-a-potty, where a police officer happened to find him. The cop said he just happened to patrol the area and said Smarrito must have God on his side.

To recover from the overdose, Smarrito was given another drug that helps reverse the effects of opioids called naloxone, better known by its brand name, Narcan.

"Narcan saved my life," the 30-year-old says.

Matt Skoufalos/NJPen.com

Stephen Smarrito talks at Triton Regional High School in New Jersey for a school district event about how nurses there would now have Narcan kits, used to help reverse the effects of opioid overdoses.

Research, experts push for Narcan access

A study in San Francisco found giving patients the antidote could help them.

The research, published last year, found that people who are receiving treatment for chronic pain with opioids can have less visits to the emergency room for related problems if they have naloxone.

"Some have voiced concern that if patients received naloxone they would increase their opioid use," the study's lead author, Phillip Coffin, told the San Francisco Department of Public Health. “But that did not happen."

When University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy professor Daniel Wermeling wanted to show students how important it was to reach people in need, he had trained groups go to a needle-exchange program at a health department building to give naloxone kits to people.

“People we need to get to aren’t going to come to the Kroger pharmacy,” he says.

He had students go on Fridays to the health department, where somewhat of a makeshift pharmacy was set up in a conference room. About 50 people received help each week.

And people in need noticed that others were trying to understand and help them, Wermeling says.

One of the first things he tells patients is that they have to tell the people they're living with they have Narcan, "otherwise no one has the ability to be a good Samaritan."

But some addicts have concerns about having Narcan, fearing police could use that information against them.

Wermeling says he's tried to counsel addicts against that decision, but sometimes they still refused the antidote.

"It's frustrating," he says, adding that it's unclear whether stigma or other factors are at play.

President's opioid commission recommends greater access to antidote

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been working to reign in the epidemic both on the state and federal level.

One of the recommendations from the commission's interim report was that the president should consider leading efforts to require naloxone to be given to high-risk patients being prescribed opioids. That's a move similar to what the American Medical Association has advocated; the medical association's opioid task force has recommended that doctors prescribe the antidote depending on the circumstances.

But Narcan didn't save Smarrito from his addiction. Instead, a slow path to recovery, which included some relapses, eventually led him to the role of an advocate.

At a 7-Eleven, he happened to stumble upon a business card for Treasure Coast Recovery in Florida. He says he checked in for a 45-day stay and has been clean since Nov. 17, 2012.

Smarrito's past isn't completely clean. After going to rehab, he was charged with possession of drugs with intent to distribute — a violation of his probation — but a judge allowed him to stay out of jail.

An employer at a restaurant also didn't let his past hold him back from a job and promotions.

He's now the director of client services for Humble Beginnings Recovery Centers, a role where he oversees peer mentors who help people recover.

Smarrito says he hopes more people would have Narcan at their disposal. The opioid commission recommends equipping all law enforcement with it in the U.S.

"At the end of the day," he said, "that's what it's about—saving lives."